History
Bethel Alaska was first established by Yupik Eskimos who called the
village "MAMTERILLERMIUT," meaning "Smokehouse People,"
named for the nearby fish smokehouse. There were 41 people in Bethel
during the 1880 U.S. Census. At that time, it was an Alaska
Commercial Company Trading Post. The Moravian Church established a
mission in the area in 1884. The community was moved to its present
location due to erosion at the prior site. A post office was opened
in 1905. Before long, Bethel was serving as a trading,
transportation and distribution center for the region, which
attracted Natives from surrounding villages. Over time, federal and
state agencies established regional offices in Bethel. " The
city was incorporated in 1957.
Bethel, one of the largest
communities in western Alaska, lies within the 20 million-acre
Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge, the largest wildlife refuge in
the nation. Bethel serves as an administrative and transportation
hub for 56 villages in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.
Transportation: The State-owned Bethel Airport is the
regional transportation center, and is served by two major passenger
airlines, two cargo carriers, and numerous air taxi services. The
airport ranks third in the state for total number of flights. It is
currently undergoing a $7 million renovation and expansion. Two
float plane bases are nearby, Hangar Lake and H Marker Lake. The
Port of Bethel is the northern-most medium-draft port in the U.S.
River travel is the primary means of local transportation in the
summer, and it becomes a 150-mile ice road to surrounding villages
in the winter. A barge service based in Bethel provides goods to the
Kuskokwim villages. There are 16 miles of local roads.
Climate: Precipitation averages 16
inches a year in this area, with snowfall of 50 inches. Summer
temperatures range from 62 to 42; winter temperatures average 19 to
-2.
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